Lord Hunt of Wirral (Con)

My Lords, I say with great regret that the response we have received today is totally unconvincing. At no point throughout the progress of the Bill have Ministers offered a satisfactory explanation as to why sweeping changes to trade union access rights, including digital access, were introduced on Report in the other place, with no consultation, no impact assessment and no regard for the realities facing small and medium-sized businesses. There has been no clarity whatever regarding how these measures will work in practice. How right the noble Lord, Lord Londesborough, is to stress that there has been no recognition of the burden they will place on the thousands of small and medium-sized employers across the country. There has been no proper answer to my noble friend Lord Moynihan of Chelsea, who was supported by my noble friends Lady Lawlor and Lord Leigh of Hurley. I have no need to reply to the noble Baroness, Lady O’Grady of Upper Holloway, as she was shot out of the water by my noble friend Lord Hannan of Kingsclere. All I will say is that there has equally been no proper consideration of the broader impact these changes could have on the labour market, particularly on hiring, retention and business confidence, at a time of economic uncertainty. I regard the noble Lord, Lord Goddard of Stockport, as consistent, but I disagree with him fundamentally. I hope he will issue a detailed explanation to the Federation of Small Businesses as to why he has felt unable to follow its guidance that there has to be a recognition of the special needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. I can well understand that the arguments that the noble Lord, Lord Londesborough, introduced in support of Amendment 129, together with Amendments 131 and 145, provide a simple and proportionate safeguard. Given the seriousness of these issues and the complete lack of justification for how this has been handled, I shall seek to test the opinion of the House on Amendment 129, but, in the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw Amendment 128.